The first show in London/Europe in over two years. The tour was brief – just four venues/cities, starting with a 3-show run at the Ally Pally (which dates from 1875). They had to ship over a sound system, but obviously the complete Wall of Sound was not feasible. This night they were slotted after Traffic, playing one long set. This was once a pretty obscure show, but over many years more and more became available and we now have the whole set (albeit in much varying quality). The original SBD was missing six songs, now available, and AUDs of the whole run eventually circulated for patches. This is the lesser show; the run gets better each night, and the last is an all-time classic. But for '74 fans, this one is worth hearing.
Bertha opens with muffed lyrics, but Phil & Keith are ready! Kinks get worked out quickly, and the next few are solid, if sans fireworks. This Scarlet however, is justifiably well-regarded. A lot of the appeal is from Billy's drumming. The snarling Mexicali maintains the excitement. Row Jimmy has great tones, but it's not the tightest. There are some good sections though in Playing. The rest of the show is average '74. To listen to El Paso and overcome the wow & flutter, you'll need some pitch intervention. The same is true for the Tennessee Jed. You can see in Truckin' that Bobby isn't quite "on" this night but Jer is – note his playing in the initial jam. A 16½min Truckin', that also gets good again in the last 2mins. The second half of the jam was given a separate track (and random title) on Dick's 7 for publishing purposes. Wharf Rat is dry until the last 1½mins. The next four are super speedy and unlistenable without intervention. Uncle John's is missing the beginning and the 2nd verse, both available on the AUD. They come back for an encore, apologize for the late start, and play a double. Keith has been good all night and is now a center player; Bobby & Donna are past due.
Overall = C+    3 stars
Highlights:
Scarlet Begonias – a lot of the appeal is Billy
Mexicali Blues – snarling, which is whatcha want
SOURCES: SBD sources need NR, repitched and BAL. The 135655_sbd_new finally added the missing songs (you need the sly_12846 for the complete tunings). Most of it runs slightly fast, needing -1% pitch correction. Ship of Fools has wavering pitch and needs, approximately, -1% from 0:00>1:06; -1% 1:58>2:30; -2% 2:30>2:56; -1% 2:56>end. Tennessee is slow and needs +2%. Uncle John's needs -4.5%. JBG, U.S. Blues & Saturday Night need -5.5%. These six also have their channels switched. The soundcheck was also traded and is now at sirmick_fix-32642_97013. The AUD (154544_aud_flegel) has the missing sections of Uncle John's. It has wild pitch with a couple running slow and the rest running way too fast (UJB is okay). Be forewarned the Brits are quite unpleasant between songs. Dick's #7 has Scarlet, Mexicali, Row Jimmy, Truckin' & Wharf Rat. They need -1% pitch correction.

First night of a really good September '74 run at Alexandra Palace in London. Scarlet, Mexicali, and Jimmy from set 1 made the Dick's cut (disc 1) as did this stand-out Truckin'->Wharf Rat (disc 2) from set 2. Three stars only because nights 2 and 3 are even better.

This is a nice upgrade from the same tracks on Dick's Picks 7, plus some additional tracks of equal quality. Great to have the Playin' finally. Thanks for sharing!